22
by The Illegible
Summary: Two-Face is duality and chance in the ever-changing now. Harvey Dent is a man, neither more nor less. 100 word drabble studies. Some Harvey/Gilda.
1. Burn

AN: I do not own.

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Skin bubbles, sinks, slides free from muscle and bone turning him inside out he can feel himself being eaten away alive bit by bit proving once and for all he is no Apollo sun god burned by liquid fire unworthy of his city unable to rise above mortal imperfections blinded by heat justice escapes him hypocrite of the law through hubris fell who was he to think he could enforce a higher order who was he to believe he was good enough to lead who was Harvey Dent but a broken man with the audacity to command a single voice?


	2. Delusional

The coin flicks off his fingers lands heads better luck next time Harvey he sees his father smile the coin flicks off his fingers lands heads his lungs deflate against the force of a boot the coin flicks off his fingers lands heads his head slams into concrete blood erupts from his skull the coin flicks off his fingers lands heads hands hoist him higher tighter he dies there the coin flicks off his fingers lands heads his father asks him about his day and smiles the coin flicks off his fingers lands heads he remains forever unmarked and untouched. 


	3. Fragile

This city needs him she needs him now on the hospital bed bandaged delicately wrapped like a doll she is not Gilda his creator unmade with sculptor's hands limp between his fingers hair spread across a pillow no muse can encompass his wife lying dead she is (not yet) suspended in sleep dreaming of Hypnos and Thanatos the twins they always wanted he wonders if it is still too late this city needs him she needs him more he must decide in Gotham's half-light whether to take the night as a man or become a symbol that can only shatter.


	4. Wrong

You are the one I want to share the rest of my life with build a family with grow old with Harvey I love you just the way you are never change small change silver dollar two-faced believer in happy endings you are my happy ending you are my ending Harvey two-faced Harvey who will save us all our white knight my Apollo bringing out the best Harvey you're the best Harvey Two-Face lose face you are my everything all in one two split you would never ever leave me would you Harvey what's the matter Harvey come home please.


	5. Regret

They send him threats letters packages pieces of his last secretary found over several days she is dead Harvey comes home shaking cannot speak Gilda's arms are around him fingers tangled in his hair shhhhhhhhhh his face presses into her neck breath catching over sacrifices he chose to sacrifice shhhhhhhhhh Gilda's lips brush each eyelid melt into his mouth moving in and apart he gasps shudders wonders what he'd do with her life unwinding before him shhhhhhhhhh he falls to his knees repeating words of love like empty prayer she answers anyway so he pretends (begs) to be good enough. 


	6. Dirty

Her arms are stained gray dusty at the elbows slick over her hands she wets her sculpture-in-progress eyes steady face smudged from cheek to nose hair tied back he stands in the doorway smiles with his teeth she has not noticed metal streaming from speakers mouthing words he can't decipher seeing shapes in formless things her fingers caress clay ghosts across his skin Harvey shivers wants to wrap his arms around her wants to interrupt her hard work ruin his suit kiss her too rough be remade to match her vision like Pygmalion she makes him better beneath her touch. 


	7. Hope

He trembles beneath the weight of their expectations but his smile never fades flashes before cameras microphones under his nose crowds screaming questions bleeding together he answers like clockwork the District Attorney who must bring justice to us all paying tribute to false idols with golden hair and silver tongues we the people bow down in worship to this guardian of the law with words and deeds I believe in Harvey Dent so he swears in hallowed halls to bring prosperity to smite the wicked to damn the criminal with authority invested in him by Gotham's dutiful children and himself. 


	8. Secret

They wait illuminated by city lights with Gordon's cigarette unwinding smoke between them Harvey keeps his hands in his pockets understands he enters an urban legend marked by whispers and wingbeats where men are masked and shadows dance across rooftops to the tune of broken bones he tries to wrap his mind around the privilege as Batman enters like a patch of night torn away with ragged edges where a human frame could not contain him Harvey Dent must remind himself that this is nothing more than a guise in the business of secrets and they have work to do. 


	9. Lose

On the precipice of victory we stand united our voice raised like a torch like a spear like a golden arrow against the beast of Lerna we are gods and monsters we are so much more than good and evil we are order in the court cauterizing corruption our head held high and mighty manifest in Harvey of the doubletalk Harvey who writes himself into the fabric of Gotham's history Harvey who will not bend before the Roman we command you the unworthy we condemn you the unrighteous we will not be merciful and you will fall before our eyes. 


	10. Lie

Language unfurls like banners campaign buttons impossible promises I swear to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth so help me god as my witness I shall do no harm I shall see no hear no SPEAK no evil to believe in Harvey Dent to believe we are all put here for a reason to believe in reason to reason my reason is Gotham City my reason is myself my reason is irrelevant insignificant useless you are useless we are all useless shadows and reflections and mind-games through which the world turns without remorse or even notice. 


	11. Waste

His reflection stares back at him all teeth and twisted flesh black on red scabbed over his sunken eye socket accenting contours of his skull unrecognizable parody of his former self he cannot speak cannot scream for building pressure behind his gaze he understands perfectly in an instant it has all been in vain his every action subject to the whims of fate a doctor explains his condition and offers condolences Harvey No-Name takes his tie like a noose slams him into the wall again and again staggers to the door then runs until there is nowhere left to run. 


	12. Insomnia

Silence a figment this city moans pulls close to claim him drag him down to the mattress he suffocates in her wet heat a ceiling fan completes its rotation again rotates again brings him back again to the sound of a body thudding against linoleum whatever he had expected and willingly sacrificed can not stop now while a gun rests on his nightstand while Gotham whispers loaded suggestions she slips them from her tongue into his ear he hears heavy-limbed empty-headed Harvey hollow sleepless sick-sticky Harvey whose face fell off in his palm a piece of silver begins to move.


	13. Sacrifice

I am Dionysus divided at the altar of Tyche O Fortuna O Fortuna give me guidance in the light of the moon you dance sacred silver dollar I see and obey the wax and wane your whim Wheel of Fortune the card I am dealt your servant your slave venerated puppet of flesh blessed is your wisdom bestowed upon I am your disciple wine-mad twisted chanting your word becomes law holy splendor against gavels desecrating your name defiant in denial extend your will through me and we shall strike the innocent enlighten the ignorant or spare them all for now.


	14. Bleed

The shot recoils into his hands and his lips echo the sound he finds Falcone leaking across the floor puddling before him his lips echo the sound his double wobbles onto identical streets leaving a trail where the bullet came and left he finds himself perfectly perforated and the giggle that escapes is ugly he is _hideous_ his lips echo the sound in pieces against the wall of a room near collapsed he is collapsed leaking across the floor he repeats himself again lungs convulsing again in selfish grief while sobs force his jaws apart in two echoing in vain.


	15. Decadence

He arrives split-suit monochrome doppelganger of Harvey Dent attracting the eyes of madmen and murderers like a mirror image Two-Face basks in their reception under the glare of neon blue bass pulsing through him he sits with his lip-stretched psychopomp to exclusive access the Iceberg Lounge can provide him with anything he desires for a price he sells himself to eat drink and be merry so he can lose stomach later in the shallow light of a restroom breath shaking between his lips dizzy Dent Harvey Dent who fought for nothing and finds nothing on his knees a pathetic waste. 


	16. Happiness

Liberty keeps him in chains cups his jaw renews her mark searing mind and body in tandem he cannot turn away she stands exposed unashamed everything he should love and does not listen to the language beyond his prison of flesh he hears her call liberty silver liberty Harvey shivers in her arms metallic fingers guide his hands whispering promises of relief in indifference the ambrosia he deteriorates without he thinks of Gilda shudders where he kneels alone in his fractured morality unable to escape powerless without the coin in his grip he pretends it's what he wanted all along. 


	17. Unaffected

It feels as if he has stepped out of himself and into an ill-fitting skin his body acts independently his voice belongs to someone else news anchors discuss in solemn tones the crimes of Harvey Two-Face god of unreason staining Gotham red in the blood of its politicians citizens criminals alike during one robbery a phone rings its owner the teller turned corpse blank-eyed bald man with silver fringe Harvey answers Katie who needs a ride home from school who waits for grandpa's reply who is left with silence and a loss he couldn't (wouldn't) have changed given the chance. 


	18. Shame

Harvey's ears resound in the pounding of bullets smoke and metallic stink he shakes as Batman moves in umbra uncompromising black judge of theatrics and Kevlar who continues to wrap himself in delusions like a shroud launching accusations certain there is no Two-Face only a coward who has given up prosecutor gone murderer the snarl that erupts from his own throat is inhuman cut short as a fist slams between his ribs Harvey strangles breathless legs buckling a hand catches his shoulder eases him to the floor a silence he breaks gasping as cuffs link his wrists it's a mercy.


	19. Empty

He does not know the officers who ungently escort him from the scene what remains of his beauty becomes a sneer ringing hollow teeth pressed tight to conceal the uneven air between them he who is guilty of treason oh comrades in arms I salute your unjust executions in games of cops and robbers ratatat he never blinked as their lives spilled out before him in meaningless violence accepting the right to remain mute he spots Gordon who watches without comment the stranger Two-Face who once had dinner with his wife and daughter Harvey shuts his eyes and slowly exhales.


	20. Dying

When they don't return the coin he finds himself disassembled unable to eat drink move speak trapped with possibilities he has no right to choose live or die stay or go yes or no or maybe so a useless vessel who can't manage one step he does not sleep so much as slip from consciousness into nothing into visions his brain becomes disjointed garbage a knight wearing tin riding an ass snapped up swallowed whole Gotham the monster that can be neither slain nor tamed roasts him alive in her belly like fever it is Jim who spares his life.


	21. System

During evaluation she twirls metal glint of restless energy a psychiatrist watches without blinking asks her questions Harvey can't decide if cooperation is moral at this point imagines standing in the ribbed underbelly of the courthouse before judge jury city world asked to swear honesty fumbling before the inevitable toss unable to assent Harvey lawyer-gone-liar who condemns himself in living who stammers inadequate answers (stripped by fire reborn empty I am unmeaning made flesh) sees his own justice and does not dispute his hand wavers like a candle she falls directionless oracle of Delphi and so they declare him incompetent.


	22. Fortune

I blink in light devoid of color the smell sterile as hospitals are Arkham home to the mentally ill who would kill us in our beds (this is not true) WE would kill you for choices we fail to make I fail I my father's son who cannot be trusted Two-Face stripped of titles and ambitions with not even my own name to follow Harvey Dent once led Gotham with good intentions I can no longer intend my fellow citizens my friends my love my god forgive me and surrender as I have surrendered to triumph to ruin to chance.

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AN: Thanks for reading!


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